A confidential memo from the City Attorney’s Office, obtained by The Chronicle, cites article VI, section 17 of the state Constitution, which states that “a judge of a court of record may not practice law and during the term for which the judge was selected is ineligible for public employment or public office.” The section makes an exception for part-time teaching and goes on to say that a judge, “may, however, become eligible for election to other public office by taking a leave of absence without pay prior to filing a declaration of candidacy.” We also got a peek at another opinion from a private attorney that says basically the same thing.

From what we hear, the memos are being interpreted by city leaders as saying that Feinstein could resign and run for district attorney next fall, but cannot be appointed to the position — even if she steps down from the bench prior to her appointment.

As we’ve noted before, it’s not clear that Feinstein — daughter of Sen. Dianne Feinstein — even wants the top prosecutors spot. Her ineligibility still leaves a long list of people seeking the job, among them attorney Bill Fazio, Deputy District Attorney Paul Henderson, Police Commissioner and former prosecutor Jim Hammer, and David Onek, a senior fellow at the UC Berkeley Center for Criminal Justice. Our money at this point is on Henderson, who has been a loyal deputy to Harris.